NC county to test all nursing-home, assisted-living residents and staff for COVID-19
Franklin County will test all residents and employees of nursing homes and assisted-living centers for the coronavirus starting next week, the county said Monday in a news release.
Congregate-care facilities have become hot zones for coronavirus infections. A Franklin County nursing home has one of the state’s deadliest outbreaks.
According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, there had been 2,948 confirmed coronavirus cases in nursing homes as of Monday morning, or 12.3% of North Carolina’s 23,964 total confirmed cases.
There had been 401 nursing-home deaths from COVID-19 as of Monday morning, nearly 53.2% of North Carolina’s 754 total reported deaths.
At Louisburg Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center in Franklin County, a county of about 70,000 people northeast of Raleigh, 56 residents and 13 staff members tested positive for the virus and 19 residents died, according to the latest information from DHHS.
The COVID-19 death toll connected to the Louisburg center is among the highest for North Carolina nursing homes. Two nursing homes have had 21 deaths and two others have had 20.
The center accounts for nearly half of Franklin County’s total confirmed cases and all but one of its reported COVID-19 deaths.
On May 12, the county also reported that two residents and one staff member at Louisburg Manor Assisted Living Facility tested positive for the coronavirus.
NC expands testing guidelines
On May 15, the state greatly expanded its recommendations on who should be tested to include people who live in or have regular contact with high-risk settings such as long-term care facilities.
Dr.. Mandy Cohen, DHHS secretary, has said periodic, universal testing at nursing homes should be a goal.
Other states have announced universal testing at nursing homes.
The state has begun distributing packages of personal protective equipment to long-term care facilities, and set up one of the distribution hubs in Franklin County, The News & Observer reported.
This story was originally published May 25, 2020 at 1:56 PM.